Ah, yes, clearly it is a time to defund Planned Parenthood …//////gah

Why is mental illness so low on the global health agenda?

Given this focus on data, are the biggest contributors to the global burden of disease also getting the most attention and resources?

Consider two major causes of death and disability worldwide — maternal mortality and mental illness.

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Yet, surprisingly, mental illness actually kills and maims more young mothers worldwide.

For all ages and genders, the World Health Organization says mental illness is the fourth leading cause of disability and tenth leading cause of all deaths. Suicide alone kills nearly three times (nearly a million people) the number of women who die in childbirth (360,000, mostly in the developing world) every year.

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Some of it clearly has to do with the stigma that still surrounds mental health, he said. Many people still tend to view mental illness as a character flaw, Patel said, as something that an individual is somehow personally responsible for having and for not being able to control their behavior.

Because of this misunderstanding, he said, many people with mental illness in poor communities (and not-so-poor, but ignorant, communities) suffer severe abuse.